Day 9

9) Our Youth Group (9

Let me just say that all those negative stigmas about working with youth--throw them out the window! I LOVE working with our teenagers! They are a blast! They continually amaze me with their maturity and passion for Christ. Here's just a few things our teenagers have been up to this past year:

• Praying every day at the high school before school starts. One student asks, "Why just pray once at year at See You At The Pole? Why not everyday?" Then he started the prayer group.


• Memorizing many large passages of Scripture and quoting them word perfectly.


• One student carries a notebook around with Scripture passages he finds challenging and constantly works on memorizing them.


• Church, Association, State, & National Bible Drill


• Summer Accountability/Bible study groups (boys were waking up before 7am--in the summer)


• Publicly confessing serious sin problems & asking for prayer & accountability


• Mission trip to Costa Rica


• Sacrificing sports & extracurricular activities to spend extra days in Bible & character studies were homework & tests are involved--and thriving


• Bold testimonies before the church & peers


• High school papers on: secular humanism in the public school system (9th grade), abortion, creation vs. evolution


• One girl who appears to have many reasons to justify anger toward at God instead has learned to weep for injustice & sin and turns her hurts into prayers & cries to God.

Our students battles range from being falsely accused of homosexuality, berating about purity stances, tobacco abuse, alochol abuse, drug addictions, divided homes, physical & emotional abuse, pornography addictions, rejection from friends, and taunting concerning their Christianity. However, I have seen some of these students daily choosing to pick up their cross and follow after Christ, putting on God's armor and fighting hard against the sin that seeks to overpower them. There are many more who still need God's truth to permeate their hearts and set them free. It is extremely rewarding to play a small part in leading these students to know & embrace the truth.

Check out this quote from one of my student's testimonies he'll be sharing next Sunday on how he faces persecution: "With these conversations [referring to tauntings & berating concerning his purity stance] I do not look to change the subject or ignore them. I look at it to share my relationship with Christ and why I make these sacrifices as well as share the benefits of this lifestyle. Thessalonians 1:5 says, 'And God will use this persecution to show His justice and to make you worthy of His Kingdom, for which you are suffering.' I feel if we didn't have persecution we wouldn't be as strong Christians as we are. So God has taught me to use persecution as an opportunity to share His Word and His name...When persecution comes again for me living for God I plan to step up for Him and share Christ's love. I hope to lead them to the throne and to be confident that Christ is with me and I am suffering for His kingdom." --10th grade

Next Sunday our students will lead the worship service with Bible Drills, Scripture quoting, ushering, greeting, and testimonies. I am stoked! We will be spending the entire weekend studying God's Word together and learning the books of the Bible. Pray for us. God is up to something huge in the lives of these young people!